Rio de Janerio, the site for both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games (Downie 2009). But underneath the excitement of hosting two of the world’s most popular displays of athleticism and national pride lies an ugly and complex problem; drug crime in Favela slums and the negative effect it is having on the youth who live there.
Favelas are the slums and shantytowns that sprung up after Brazil’s newly freed slaves needed somewhere to live (Haemmerle 2009). The Favela’s now hang on the edges of Rio and serve as homes for more then one million urban poor (BBC 2007).
Recently the youth of Favelas have become victims of drug related gang activity resulting in violent crime as different gangs attempt to assert their authority over profits and territory (Downie 2009). The youth of the slums are victimized and experience much higher crime rates as they are poor, young, and central city residents (Leon-Guerrero 2009). Violent crime is defined by Leon-Guerreo as “actions that involve force or threat of force against others and includes aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery.” In Rio’s case, it involves a police helicopter being shot down and about 6000 people being killed each year (Downie 2009). To make matter worse, the number of people killed during police operations from 1999 to 2003 has tripled from 289 to 1,195 according to Justica Global (Phillips 2006).
The number of people killed during police operations has lead to increased tensions between the civilians and police. The police have adopted a “shoot first ask questions later” policy as the officers who don’t end up dead (Logan 2003). The police will “shoot at you without asking who you are” (BBC 2007) and numerous human rights groups (such Human Rights Watch) have accused “police in both Rio and Sao Paulo of routinely using unnecessary lethal force, and of thereby exacerbating the violence problem in both cities” (Boyle 2009).
It is this fear of the police that has caused the Favela youth to find non-traditional role models in the drug traffickers. Kids grow up wanting to “emulate the drug trafficker with his AR-15 assault rifle and Nike shoes” (Haemmerle 2009). Drug dealers can often gain the support of society by offering social benefits and ties of loyalty (Martin, Lopez 2009). However, there is often no other choice to survive. “They are not involved just for the money and social status. They are involved because there is often no other option for survival: to eat, buy clothes and pay rent” (Logan 2003). In most cases the youth have “no other option but to turn to the drug trade to eat.”
Drug related violence in Rio de Janerio has created an environment where citizens (rightfully so) don’t trust the police and the youth has turned to drug dealers as role models. Can anything be done to solve this social problem?
All you human rights activists out there, make sure you check out my next blog entry to find out.
Works Cited (in order of Appearance)
Online articles can be accessed by clinking on the name of the article
Downie, Andrew. 2009. “Can Rio’s Crime Problems be Solved Before the Olympics?”
Time in Partnership with CNN, October 21 2009. Accessed on 2/8/10.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1931162,00.html
Haemmerle, Matt. 2009. “Haemmerle: In Olympics’ Rio de Janerio, favelas on fire”
The Villanovan. November 18, 2009. Accessed on 2/8/10.
http://www.villanovan.com/2.7324/haemmerle-in-olympics-rio-de-janeiro-
favelas-on-fire-1.1019106
“Inside Rio’s violent favelas” BBC News. July 4, 2007. Accessed on 2/8/10.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6266770.stm
Leon-Guerrero, Anna. 2009. Social Problems, Cominity Policy, and Social Action.
Crime and Criminal Justice, pg 323-329. Pine Forges Press.
Phillips, Tom. 2006. “Police Violence in Rio de Janeiro” Upside Down World:
Covering Activism and Politics in Latin America. January 10, 2006. Accessed
on 2/18/10
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/brazil-archives-63/166-police-violence-
in-rio-de-janeiro
Logan, Sam. 2003. “Drug Lords and Young Soldiers” Brazilmax.com. September 22,
2003. Accessed on 2/18/10.
http://www.brazilmax.com/news.cfm/tborigem/pl_southcentral/id/8
Boyle, Jaylan. 2009. “Favela Pacification Plan Underway” The Rio Times News in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. December 8th, 2009. Accessed on 2/18/10.
http://riotimesonline.com/news/rio-politics/favela-pacification-plan-
underway/
Martin, Dalia. Lopez, Julian. 2009. Drug Trafficking and Paternalism in Rio de
Janerio. Politica y Sociedad. Vol 46, no. 1-2, pp 205-119. CSA Illumina.
Accessed on 3/4/10. http://csaweb110v.csa.com/ids70/view_record.php?id=3&recnum=0&log=from_res&SID=ktas6dk1sbemb7els21djqqjm1
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